What I normally do is use a spoke key and a screwdriver with the bare wheel (remove tyre, inner tube, and rim tape - all can be re-installed afterwards) on the bike upside down. I then use the brake arms as a reference point for lateral and radial truing. Also, keep an eye on the centre-line of your bike so that the rim remains mostly centred. As for spoke tension, I guess based on the feel of other wheels...
The first thing I look at is lateral truing after loosening all nipples - I spin the wheel and hold my finger against one of the brake arms and lightly bring it towards the side of the rim. For every warped region, I tighten the spokes on the appropriate side to bring the rim back into line - I do this with half-turns and for at least a pair of spokes. All the time, I keep an eye on lateral trueness based on the centre-line of your bike (don't just keep tightening up spokes on one side!). Once the wheel is "straight", I adjust for radial trueness by spinning the wheel and putting my finger across the fork and lightly bring it towards the top of the rim. For any bulges, I tighten the spokes in that region in opposing pairs (this ensures that I don't warp the wheel). Because I started with all nipples loose, I only need to tighten the necessary spokes to make the wheel radially true.
Once the wheel looks pretty good (+/- 1mm or less), I go round and tighten all the spokes by half a turn. I then quickly check spoke tension by squeezing each pair of spokes; if they feel loose, I tighten all the spokes again and repeat. Once the spoke tension feels okay, I stress them with more squeezing and then push down on the rim all the way round both "vertically" (radial) and "horizontally" (laterally) on both sides, and then check the trueness of the wheel again - you should be able to get it to +/- <1mm.
You can then perform the audio test by spinning the wheel and putting something against the spokes (i.e., back of your fingernail) to hear if the spokes are similarly tightened (i.e., a similar clang tone rather than a dull gong); however, I don't find this overly useful because you should already have a good idea if you've been squeezing the spokes all the way round. If I find a spoke that is obviously loose (i.e., it wiggles in place), I tighten it up with half turns, checking each time that it doesn't warp the wheel.
Re-assemble the wheel and pump up to the desired pressure and stress the spokes again - check that the wheel remains true. Once that's done, the wheel is mostly ready - you'll only know it has worked after you've ridden on it a few times... Trial and error and patience is the key. The first time I re-did a wheel took me 5 hours! It now takes me an hour or so. Also, lube up the threads before you start - this will help you in the long run.
Note that if you want to build a front wheel, pay attention to spoke length, inner rim diameter, nipple length, hub flange diameter between holes, hub length (distance between the flanges), and the lacing pattern you want to use (i.e., use the various spoke length calculators online). For rear wheels, check online!
Sorry for length, but I hope that helps!
Uplah